


Time is Relative

by abbysragna



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Age Difference, Childhood Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Non-Canon Relationship, One-Sided Attraction, Slow Burn, Third Gym (Haikyuu!!), Trans Akaashi Keiji, Trans Male Character, american school system, bokuto is 4 years younger, mb y’all i forgot to say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:27:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21800155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbysragna/pseuds/abbysragna
Summary: a bit of a character analysis if the three were childhood friends who grew up bonding over volleyballslow burn Bkak, but not as slow burn as you think
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Time is Relative

**Author's Note:**

> i wish i could have fit Kuroo and Tsukki into this somehow that’s so gay. i wanted to make a Kei joke, like Kei and Keiji but i couldn’t fit it
> 
> TRANS PORTION IS A GIFT FOR MY BROTHER
> 
> PLEASE NOTE- if you see an asterisk further down, ITS ON PURPOSE!!
> 
> *this is set in the American school system so i could properly play with the ages!!

According to his mom, Bokuto’s first word had been ‘ball.’ His mom didn’t mind too much- she just started putting him into every sport that had a ball since her son seemed so hyper fixated on them. Which was where three-year old Bokuto was now.

Out on the soccer fields was fun; Bokuto says it felt like home. The boy had grown up with endless energy, making him a fine athlete from the get-go. He’d get a foot on the ball, dribble it down the field past the other peewee soccer kids, and kick it straight into the goal. Bokuto had always felt a rush of adrenaline when he did, as he ran back to high-five his friends.

Until he didn’t. Soccer lost its appeal, as most things did. His mother, however, was set on him playing. He was good for his age- he was five. He already had a promising future if he kept playing soccer, but he dropped the ball one day and never turned back to it.

He tried baseball. Another immediate talent that he dropped. Though basketball did feel even closer to home than soccer ever had, as he told his mom. One night, sometime before Bokuto had quit basketball, the ball he threw slipped out of his hands and bounced out the door.

“I’ll get it!” Bokuto took off running after the ball, and his coach laughed. The ball rolled out the door that led to the outside, and Bokuto was met with a sharp wind buffeting his face. He spots his ball laying next to a foot. The foot is attached to a body.

“Hey, you! Are you alright?!” There was a kid lying next to his ball. The kid groans and gets up.

“Fine. Is this your ball?”

Bokuto blinks, and spots that the kid had picked his ball up for him. “Thank you!” He took the ball and finally looked up. The kid was huge. Taller than him with black hair and slanted eyes. “Wow you’re tall! How old are you?! How tall are you?!”

The boy’s face scrunched, but he answered. “I’m nine. Last I checked, my height was one-thirty-three in centimeters.”

Bokuto’s jaw dropped. “How cool!! You’re so tall!!”

“No I'm not.”

“Yes you definitely are!!”

As the boy was about to respond, a blond ran up behind him. “Kei, there you are! I was wondering where you ran off to. Who’s this?”

“I’m Bokuto! Bokuto Koutarou!” The boy puffed his chest out pridefully.

The blond grinned. “Nice to meet ‘ya, Bokuto! I’m Konoha. You play basketball?” Konoha gestures vaguely to the basketball in Bokuto’s small hands.

Bokuto nods, seeming suddenly downcast.

“I do, but I’m not sure I really enjoy it all that much.”

Kei and Konoha give him surprised stares at how fast his mood changed. “Well, why not?” This time it’s Kei who speaks up.

Bokuto grumbles. “I’m awesome at sports! I guess I’m some super athlete, as my mom and coach say. But I don’t really get it.” Kei feels himself twitching. ‘Great, we met a child prodigy with no sense of humility.’

Konoha bumps him lightly as a warning. “Isn’t that a good thing? If you’re some fantastic athlete you can play whatever you want, right?”

Bokuto nods. “Yeah, that’s what my mom says. But basketball is boring. It’s… uh… I don’t know the word but it’s lame!”

Kei snorts. “Then play a different sport.”

Bokuto huffs. “I already have! I was good at soccer and baseball already, and now I don’t know what to do! Basketball is so boring!” Kei feels a harder twitch in the corner of his eye.

“Then come play volleyball with us.”

Bokuto blinks, and tilts his head. “What’s that?”

Konoha laughs. “Wow, you really look like an owl right now! Volleyball is a team game where we get a white ball over a super tall net using only three hits! It’s super fun.”

Kei nods, staying quiet. Konoha nods more, looking triumphant. “Anyway, if you ever quit, come find us! Volleyball practice is also in this building.” Kei tugs Konoha’s shirt sleeve, signaling they leave.

“Ah- bye-bye, Bokuto!”

Bokuto stares dumbly at the two kids, mind racing. Volleyball? What’s a volleyball look like?

He quits basketball the following week. At this point his mom was getting frazzled. Her super athlete son doesn’t want to play sports that can get him a scholarship, and he’s still restless. She’s at her wits end when her son comes up to her with his own thoughts.

“Mommy I wanna play volleyball.”

Saying she was confused was an understatement.

\- - -

His mom looks left and right, confused by the gym. “Honey of all the sports, why volleyball?” Bokuto hums, head whipping left and right. “I met some nice boys the day the ball rolled out of the gym and they told me about it!”

His mom blanks. “Honey I thought I told you not to talk to strangers!”

“Yeah, but mom I thought he was hurt-!”

“I was hurt, thank you very much.”

Bokuto jumps around at the voice. “It’s Kei!! Mama, this is the kid that I thought was hurt! You were hurt?”

Kei twitched. “Don’t call me that. And yes, I was. Your ball knocked me over.”

Bokuto yelled, and started bowing furiously. His mom stared at Kei. “My, you’re quite a cute kid, aren’t you? What’s your name?”

Kei blinked up at the mom in surprise before it melted away into a soft smile. “I am Akaashi Keiji, ma’am. Pleasure to meet you.”

Bokuto’s mom gushed. “You’re so polite, too! I’m Kou’s mother. If he decides to stay here and play volleyball, feel free to just call me auntie.”

Akaashi smiles politely. “Sure thing, auntie. Since Bokuto is here would you mind if I showed him the basics? Practice goes until six thirty.”

The mom looks anxious briefly, before she smiles and nods. “Then I’ll just sit and watch.”

Akaashi nods, grabbing Bokuto’s wrist and pulling him into their practice. Bokuto grunts. “You totally forgot I was there. You were too busy talking to mama to talk to me.”

“My bad.”

“And another thing! Why can’t I call you Kei, too?! So unfair! Konoha calls your it!”

“Me and Konoha are close friends is all.” Akaashi answers calmly.

“Then we’re close friends now too, Kei!” Bokuto was getting steadily more annoyed, so Kei simply resigned himself to the young boy’s friendship.

He stops them in their half running. He turns around and squats down a bit so he’s eye-to-eye with Bokuto. “If you keep playing volleyball with me and Konoha, you can call me Kei all you want.”

Bokuto gapes. “You’re asking me to actually like, like a sport! That’s totally crazy- but I’ll try!”

Akaashi blinks, obviously not expecting such a response. He nods and straightens out. “I see.”

\- - -

Turns out getting Bokuto to like a sport actually isn’t that hard. In fact, with volleyball, at least, it was very, very easy. They showed him how to bump a ball with his forearms, and his hands, and they learned that Bokuto was in fact a naturally talented athlete.  
(Konoha had to remind Akaashi that slugging young children is not allowed.)

“Hey hey hey~! Kei! Konoha! Watch this!!” Bokuto tosses the ball up and seemingly effortlessly hits it over the adult’s net.

He is ten. Konoha laughs. “That’s nothing special, Bo! Even I can do that!”

“I’d have to agree, Bokuto-san. I’m also able to do something that simple.”

Bokuto wilts, pouting. “Fine then! I’ll show you my super awesome new technique!” Konoha doubles over, losing it. Akaashi sighs. “Sure, Bokuto-san.”

He sets Bokuto the ball, who easily catches it, tossing it around, and bouncing it on the ground. “Alright you two doubters, watch this!” He tosses the ball again, except it’s higher, and he jumps for it. He slams it down inside the line over the net. Akaashi’s fists tighten, and his pleasant smile twitches at the edges. “Dammit, I really hate natural talent.”

Konoha awes over Bokuto, as Akaashi silently retrieves the balls. “Woah~! Bo! Where’d you learn that, man?! Pulling off a good jump serve like that at ten… I can't even imagine! You joined when me and Kei were ten and quickly out-talented us!! You’re too good, bro!” Konoha had Bokuto in a headlock and was giving him a noogie. Akaashi smiles softly at the sight.

‘But maybe having his talent around is a good thing, yet.’

\- - -

When Bokuto was nine, and Akaashi and Konoha were thirteen, Bokuto would always go to watch their middle school matches. He found joy in seeing his best friend set the ball for his other best friend who would slam the ball on the other side. But now Bokuto was ten, and Akaashi and Konoha were fourteen, so now they were first year high schoolers, which loosely meant that watching their matches was going to be difficult. Konoha and Akaashi both got accepted to Fukurodani Academy, a prestigious school known for its outstanding volleyball team. Bokuto was jealous.

When the two came strolling into their club gym at six thirty on the dot, Bokuto was so excited he spiked the ball he was jumping to with his face. Bokuto fell to the ground almost like he was an actor. He heard a few yells for help, and in the next moment, the overhead lights were filled by a head pushed into his view.

“Bokuto-san!”

“Ah, shoot. An I seeing the light already? It’s an angel.” Bokuto stuck a hand up to touch the angel, and got a swat to his face instead. “Bwhaht-?”

“Stupid, it’s me. It’s just Akaashi and Konoha.”

True enough, when he managed to focus again, the head he thought was an angel was just Akaashi. “Kei! And Konoha!” He bounce onto his feet. “How’s highschool?!” The gym let out a collective sigh of relief at seeing that he was fine.

Konoha laughs. “High school is cool. There’s a whole bunch of attractive people there, right?” He elbows Akaashi whose face goes respectfully pink. “Leave me alone, already.” Bokuto blinks, confused.

“Hey, Kei, why’s your face all red?” Akaashi huffs, and walks away. Bokuto gapes. He’s never been ignored like that by Kei before! He wails, tugging on Konoha's shirt. “Konohaaaaa! Akaashi hates me! Why does Akaashi hate me?!”

Konoha wails with laughter. He ruffles Bokuto’s hair affectionately. “Bo, dude. Chill. Akaashi doesn’t hate you.”

“Then why’s he ignoring me?! He’s never ignore me before! It’s super rude!!”

Konoha shushes him when a few of the club leaders call for the beginning of practice. “Kei’s just upset because he got hit on, on the first day of school. A couple of guys thought he was a girl and asked for his number is all.”

“But Kei is pretty for a guy. Y’know, I also thought he was a girl at first.” Bokuto’s jaw drops. “Why? Where? When??” Konoha and Bokuto run over to where the club advisors are rallying everyone. “Kindergarten. He used to wear dresses and frills to school.” Bokuto rolls the new information over in his head, not quite sure what to do with it.

The advisors start by congratulating Akaashi and Konoha, before they move them to the next age group. Bokuto is aghast. He whines to the advisors until they move him up as well.

When they split off, Bokuto thinks of what Konoha told him. ‘Kei used to wear dresses and frills? Why?’ He looks over to where Akaashi is setting a ball up and down over and over again in a near perfect rhythm. He wasn’t sure what to think about Akaashi now, but his volleyball was great for his age, and he guesses Akaashi is attractive. He’s just not sure why.

Akaashi successfully- easily, really, drops a dump onto the other court, but he doesn’t seem at all excited. Bokuto runs over from the left wing and grabs his face, pulling him down just slightly so they’re the same height. “Kei is pretty so Kei shouldn’t look so sad!” Akaashi’s eyes widen and his cheeks flush lightly. He laughs softly, and Bokuto grins, triumphantly placing his balled hands on his hips. “There you go! Be happy! You’re talented and pretty so stop looking so sad all the time!”

Akaashi is still smiling and laughing softly while he affectionately rubs Bokuto’s hair. “Thank you, Bokuto. But boys don’t generally like being called pretty, okay?”

Bokuto pouts. “But you are! Kei is super pretty! That’s gotta be why guys hit on you! Because Kei’s pretty.”

Akaashi laughs a bit harder and just nods. “I see, Bokuto. Thank you for trying to make me feel better.”

Bokuto grins.

\- - -

Bokuto enters middle school the next year. He is eleven, quickly turning twelve. He’s learned about puberty and girls and kissing and the sort, and he finds it fascinating. So when a girl asks him out halfway through the year, he accepts without too much doubt. The girl is nice enough. And she’s pretty, with average length, nearly shortened to a bob, black hair. Bokuto finds it endearing how she’s able to listen to him talk for so long without getting annoyed or bored, and he’s always interested in her stories.

They date for over a year. He truly likes the girl. Then, they break it off.

\- - -

When Bokuto is in his third year he gets into a relationship with another girl. This girl has a bobbed, darker brownish colored hair style, and she plays volleyball at the same club that he, Akaashi, and Konoha all go to, but they’re also in the same class. By now, Akaashi and Konoha are fourth years. They are in their last year. They’ll be graduating in Spring.*

His girlfriend sets him a ball and he whacks at it easily. He hits the bottle he was aiming for.

“Woohoo!” He lands on the ground and his girlfriend is already waiting with her hands up, laughing. Bokuto grins and rushes over, meeting her with a high five. “Nice kill,” she says softly through her laughing. Bokuto grins a tad wider.

“Thanks! Nice set. You’ve gotten a lot better.” She flinches a bit, and looks away. “Ah… yeah, I’ve been asking ‘Kaashi for help on my sets.”

Bokuto nods, not noticing the change in her mood. “Ah, yeah. Kei is really good at setting, isn't he?” She hums in lieu of a response. They lapsed into a silence that wasn’t exactly awkward, but it wasn’t too comfortable either. “Say, Bo… is ‘Kaashi interested in girls?”

Bokuto blinks in surprise. “Uh, I’m sure he does, yeah. That’s a bit awkward for you to ask me of all people, though.” He laughs awkwardly.

She gasps. “Ah- sorry! I wasn’t asking for myself! A friend of mine is interested in him, but he’s never dated so she wanted me to make sure for her!” Bokuto nods along.

“Well, Kei is attractive, objectively speaking. He was confessed to on the first day of high school, y’know?” He laughs, the laughs fading into a thoughtful hum. “Kei’s been confessed to a lot, actually, now that I think about it. But you’re right, he’s never dated.”

His girlfriend strokes at her chin and grunts a bit. “‘Kaashi sure is a difficult one to crack. He’s so popular on the dating market, but he’s never accepted. It’s so bizarre…”

Bokuto just hums. He’s been offered more information that he doesn’t know what to do with, just like when Konoha told him Akaashi used to wear dresses, and the time that Konoha actually got Akaashi to wear a dress. He tucks the information away in a corner of his brain reserved for weird information on him.

\- - -

Eventually, the relationship with his club friend also ends. They’re still friends, though things are certainly a little strained. But it isn’t too weird. He’s a third year in high school. He’s sixteen years old, quickly turning seventeen, and suddenly he has underclassmen to look after, and he’s the volleyball team’s captain, so he has to contribute to setting up training camps.

And he’s learned about sex, and how good it apparently feels, according to Konoha. (Akaashi had hit him.)

Akaashi and Konoha are both accepted into Tokyo’s main university, which isn’t too far from Fukurodani. Only thirty minutes at best, so when they have time, Akaashi and Konoha come help the Fukurodani team practice. Bokuto treasures that time. He gets to show off just how good he’s gotten- he’s even made it into the top five spikers in the nation!- and play with his talented childhood friends as well.

Akaashi sets him a ball. Perfect height, good stop time, and it seems so flawless. When Bokuto smashes it over, he flashes a wide smile at him. “You have the best sets ever, Kei!”

Akaashi smiles mutely at him. “Thank you very much.”

After Konoha and Akaashi help him run a few drills, it’s time for their break. Akaashi has disappeared, and Bokuto is sent on a “mission,” as his vice captain called it, to get more water from the vending machine. He grumbled the whole way, but stopped in his trails when he hears a girl’s soft voice echo in the now empty corridors.

“I’m sorry. I'm too old for you, aren’t I? We’ve also only met a few times, so again, I’m sorry.”

Bokuto jolts when he hears Akaashi’s voice. ‘What the hell, what the hell, what the hell?’ His mind runs on overdrive, trying to find out what’s happening, but his brain can only come to one conclusion-

“I don’t care! I love you!”

Ah. That’s the one.  
Bokuto’s brain fries. He’s desperately trying not to laugh, despite how bad he feels for wanting to.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t date someone over five years younger than me. It’s nothing personal.”

He hears the girl crying, and Akaashi’s soft, but firm rejection. He hears fast approaching footsteps and panics, but when the girl rounds the corner, he stops working because she isn’t even looking at him. She’s running away, head down, crying.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and tilts his mouth, contemplating. Akaashi comes around the corner a few moments after, and starts when he sees Bokuto standing there, looking in the direction of the girl. “Why are you here?”

Bokuto turns his frown towards Akaashi. “Come with me a bit. Vice Cap told me to get more water from the vending machine.” Akaashi looks hesitant, but it washes away soon after when he remembers who he’s with. “Alright.”

They stand in silence as Bokuto inserts a note and punches a few numbers into the vending machine. The waters start falling out one after another. Bokuto is the first to break the silence. “Why not just go out with her? Or anyone for that matter?”

Akaashi’s eyes widen, and he seems surprised that they’re even having the conversation. “Because I’m not interested…” At this angle, Bokuto can see just how long Akaashi’s eyelashes are. “Why? Dating is a pretty efficient way to kill time, y’know.”

Akaashi’s eyes narrow, and Bokuto finds that he’s in physical pain by how pretty it looks. “I won’t date people to kill time like you, Bokuto-san.” That makes Bokuto stop. “I never said I date people to kill time. I date people because I like them.”

“You literally just said it’s an efficient way to kill time.”

“I wasn’t talking about myself!”

“Sure sounded like it.”

Bokuto frowns, face pulling angry at the edges. “I date people because I like them, and I don’t care what age or gender they are. Why do you?”

“I never said gender matters.” Akaashi answers carefully. Cautiously.

“Then why no more than five years? And you’ve never talked about dating a girl.” Bokuto’s time has taken a sharp edge, and he has a gut feeling that he may say something he regrets soon.

“Five years is to keep myself focused. Age gaps are difficult to manage, I hope you know. And just because I never talk about girls does not in any way insinuate that I like boys, Bokuto-san!” Bokuto blinks, face scrunching more. He’s talking more than usual.

“Then how about me?”

Ah. Gut feeling. His gut feels like he’s been stabbed.

Akaashi’s angry look is replaced by a mix of surprise, confusion, and what Bokuto hopes is a hopeful expression. “What? You? What about you?”

“Would you date me?”

Akaashi sputters, cheeks reddening. ‘Ah. That’s cute.’

“I don’t know? What if you find out something about me that makes you rethink your feelings? Whatever they are…” Bokuto chooses to ignore the last blip that Akaashi let out.

“Like what? You being trans?”

Akaashi freezes, a look of horror quickly washing over his face, before disappearing. ‘Damn, apathy!’ Bokuto curses to himself. “And what makes you think that? I’m male.”

Bokuto laughs looking back on the memory. “Oh! Last year on your birthday you and Konoha went drinking and I was your designated driver, remember? Because I’m underage? Anyway, when Konoha had blacked out, you said something.”

Akaashi groans.

\- - -

“Hey, Bo, I may never be able to find the courage to say this when I'm sober, so listen up, ‘kay?”

Bokuto blinks. Akaashi is surprisingly loose-lipped when he gets drunk. It’s cute. Bokuto’s face flushes. “Sure, go ahead. I’m all ears.”

Akaashi smiles softly. The pretty one that Bokuto had grown up seeing everyday, and eventually falling in love with.

“I have a woman’s body. Vagina and all.”

Moment’s gone.  
Bokuto blinks, processing the information, before he gapes. “What?! But you’re a boy, aren’t you?! I’m certain you’re a boy!!” His commotion gets him shushed by a few tables that happen to overhear. Akaashi shushes him as well.

Akaashi huffs petulantly. “I am. A boy, that is. I’m transgender.”

Bokuto is stuck in a state of confusion for the rest of the night. By the time Akaashi is done drinking, Bokuto carries Konoha on his back out to the car, Akaashi stumbling a bit next to them. He’s silent, so Bokuto is as well. He gets Konoha into the back seat, before he feels Akaashi tap on his arm a few times. He leans out, closing the door on Konoha, turning to face his- now shorter- friend.

Akaashi smiles up at him softly. ‘The angel one again,’ Bokuto squeals internally. Akaashi reaches up, pulling Bokuto’s head down to where they’re eye-to-eye, and plants a kiss on his forehead. “You’re such a good little brother to me. Thanks for that, Bo.”

Bokuto’s face flushes and he nods, mouth feeling numb. He feels warm and fluffy, but there’s also a sinking feeling that’s rooted itself in his gut. He guides Akaashi to the passenger side, setting him in gently.

The drive to the two’s dorm is quiet, but filled with Akaashi’s soft breathing, and Konoha’s less than elegant snores. How he managed to get them both inside at once is still lost on him, but he had managed. He got Akaashi situated on the couch while he brought Konoha to his bed, tucking him in. After he finished, he headed back to the living room and saw that Akaashi had toppled over so he lying horizontally on the couch, curling and stretching like a cat. He internally yelled, but picked him up too, carrying him to his own room.

Just as with Konoha, he got his shoes and socks off. He was tempted to help with their tops and bottoms as well, but when Bokuto thought about how mad Akaashi would have been, he banished the idea immediately, red-faced. He layed Akaashi down, staring for a moment, before leaning in and placing a kiss on his forehead, whispering a good night. He locked their dorm on his way out, sliding the key back under the door with a post-it note attached to it, before setting off on his own way home.

When he got home, he stayed up until sunrise searching about anything and everything he could find about transgender people.

\- - -

“And that’s about it.” Bokuto says with a smile.

Akaashi was red to his neck, bent down, hugging the waters to his chest, leaning over his knees. He was deeply sighing. “Leave it to me to reveal my biggest secret while drunk…”

Bokuto laughs, sitting down. “I’ve known for a year now, and liked you for probably longer, so it’s fine. It’s more information for my “Akaashi Files.”” Akaashi groans.

“What kind of file is that?”

“Mostly mental images. Like, when we first met, when I first joined the club and you smiled so nicely at my mom, when you were a first year in highschool and I thought you were an angel, when Konoha got you into a dress, that time from two years ago when I realized I’d been in love with you for a while during our picnic, last year when you looked at me smug and red-faced when you told me you were trans, last year when you kissed my forehead- the look on your face was super pretty then, too, and-”

Akaashi yells, waving his hands. “Shut up! I got it already, okay?! Stop talking! Shut up shut up shut up!!”

Bokuto laughs. His most apathetic friend was finally able to easily express his emotions. “I get it already, okay? You like me, and have for a while. That doesn’t mean I’ll accept you.”

Bokuto frowns like a kicked puppy. “What?? Why not? I’m pouring out my soul here for you to see, and telling you I love you and you won’t accept me?”

Akaashi could pass as a tomato for how red he was. “Because! I’ve never once thought about dating you! I’ve never even considered it!”

Bokuto pouts. “Hey, one, that’s mean. Two, we’ll just have to go on enough dates to change that! And I’ll be your first boyfriend!”

Akaashi puts a hand up. “Incorrect. I did. date. Just once. And, unfortunately for you little guy, you won’t be my first for anything.”

Bokuto shrieks. “What?! No way!! Unfair!! Undo that!! I want to be your first everything!! First boyfriend, first date, first kiss, first time, and first husband!! Hopefully last husband, too!!”

Akaashi’s screams of embarrassment could be heard in the gymnasium.

\- - -

Bokuto’s graduation goes smoothly. Two years had passed since Bokuto had confessed to his childhood friend, and all he’d received for the entirety of the two years were no’s. He hadn’t dated in years, desperate to prove himself to Akaashi. He decided he’d confess one more time. If he got rejected, he promised to himself that he’d finally leave Akaashi alone to date who he wanted. He was willing to do that for him, even though his whole body ached at the thought of giving him up to anyone else.

He managed to graduate in the top fifteen percent- sometime in the last year, Bokuto had learned how to study.

Once all five hundred graduates let out, Bokuto rushes to the front gate. His mom had texted him that she was there with his father, Akaashi, and Konoha. He was sprinting, and beginning to work up a sweat. He got out and saw his mom and Konoha waving at him. Akaashi stood next the them with a proud, soft smile on his face. Bokuto felt a warm feeling spread through him, a warm pleasant feeling. He rushes over. His mom loudly congratulates him, hugging him close and jumping around with him. His dad quietly, yet with nearly as much enthusiasm, congratulates him. Konoha claps him on the shoulder, yanking him in for a hug, loud laughter leaving him as he starts crying. Bokuto laughs loudly with him.

Last is Akaashi. In his own mind, he left the best for last. He opens his arms and drags Akaashi into his arms, indulgently feeling his leaner frame. Akaashi squeezes him back, and Bokuto swears he can feel his heart bursting with joy. He leans down and whispers in his ear, “Come with me for a bit, okay?” He feels more than hears Akaashi’s confirmation.

He asks his parents and Konoha if they could wait for him while he goes to the bathroom, Akaashi nodding along with him. They said they didn’t mind- Konoha had work to get to, and his parents were fine with waiting in the car. They set off to the one place Bokuto could think of that wouldn’t have anyone. The back side of the building, in the far most corner. Thankfully when they got there, it was empty save for them two. Akaashi hums some tune, softly. “Why does this feel so final?”

Bokuto laughs solemnly. Leave it to Akaashi to totally ruin his plans. He stops, hands shoved in his pockets, a sad, resigned smile gracing his features. “Because it is.”

Akaashi’s eyes widen and he seems surprised. Bokuto continues when he gets the clue that Akaashi isn’t going to grace him with a verbal response. “This is going to be the last time I confess to you.” He fiddles his hand in his pocket, grabbing the small item. He grabs Akaashi’s slim wrist- definitely girlish, he thought with a stab of sympathy- and turns his hand upside down. He places the item in Akaashi’s hand, closing it. “This is the last time. After this, if you reject me again, I’ll leave you alone so you can be free to date people again without them thinking I’m on the side.”

Akaashi blinks. He unfurls his hand, and feels his eyes burn. “This is your… blazer’s? I’m guessing?”

Bokuto nods.

Akaashi inhales shakily, tears pooling in his tear ducts and lower eyelids. “Okay.”

Bokuto smiles sadly. “I figured that might be it. I’ll leave you- what?” He stares wide-eyed at the raven head. Akaashi smiles warmly at him, even though he’s crying. “Please take care of me.”

Now it’s Bokuto’s turn to cry. “Really? You’re not kidding, right? You’ll really date me? I feel like I should remind you that if you let me touch you at all, I’ll never let you go.” Akaashi smiles up at him, a laugh bubbling forward.

“Please treat me kindly, and keep your promises.” Bokuto wails- and sobs- happily, grabbing Akaashi and pulling him into his chest.

When they get back to his parents’ car saying that he’s riding with Akaashi, they both give him happy, knowing smiles.

\- - -

“You’re sure this is fine? I’m not overstepping my boundaries, right?”

“I’ve told you Bo, I’m fine. You haven’t broken any one of your promises this past year and a half so I’m alright.”

“If you’re sure…”

Akaashi moans a little bit, before covering his mouth, panting. Bokuto huffs, grabbing his wrist and pushing it down gently into the sheets. “I wanna hear.”

Akaashi looks up at him dazedly, face screwed shut in embarrassment and bliss. “That’s… embarrassing though-” He gets cut off by a significantly louder moan when a finger runs across a more sensitive area. Bokuto smiles softly down at him. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this, Keiji.”

Akaashi whines, head lolling to the side, panting slightly. His moan jumps up an octave into a yelp when he feels a burning stretch when he reaches four. Bokuto pauses. “No good?”

Akaashi wiggles his arms free, throwing them around Bokuto’s neck, pulling him down so they’re close enough to share their breaths. “Stretch ‘s nice. Feels good,” he slurs a bit.

Bokuto smiles softly, adoration gleaming in his eyes. Akaashi rubs his cheek together with Bokuto’s, pulling back and peppering his face with chaste kisses. “Love you, Kou. Love you lots. Thanks for choosing me.”

Bokuto’s eyes well up.

It took close to four years- maybe longer- for Bokuto to succeed, but the wait was definitely worth it.

“I love you too, Keiji.”

The wait was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading :)
> 
> i kind of edited this as i went, but i probably missed some stuff, so don’t bother pointing it out lol
> 
> please drop a comment on what i can improve on, or general thoughts of this


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